This application claims the benefit of priority of Korean Patent Application No. 2000-9812 filed Feb. 28, 2000.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of fabricating a directional coupler and, more particularly, to a method of fabricating a fused-type directional coupler that can be easily made and has stable characteristics.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The function of an ordinary direction coupler is to enable light that is propagating in one optical fiber to diverge into two optical fibers (2xc3x972 directional coupler) or a plurality of optical fibers (Nxc3x97N directional coupler). The directional coupler is a basic optical device that is used in almost every optical communication system. The most common technique of fabricating a directional coupler is to fabricate a fused-type directional coupler. In some special instances, polished-type directional couplers are also used.
An optical fiber taper refers to an optical fiber to the part of which heat is applied and pulled to be extended, and this process is referred to as a tapering process. Fused-type directional couplers are fabricated by such tapering process.
FIGS. 1A through 1D are diagrams illustrating the conventional method of fabricating a general 2xc3x972 fused-type directional coupler.
As shown in FIG. 1A, approximately 1-2 cm of the jackets 110 of two optical fibers 100 are stripped in the middle to expose the claddings 120. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 1B, the exposed claddings 120 are put in contact, and the contact point C is heated using a torch 130 and at the same time extended in the longitudinal direction F-Fxe2x80x2 of the optical fibers so that the contact point C is fused. At the same time, an optical signal is input to the optical fibers. The heating and extending of the optical fibers are stopped when a desired amount of splitting of light is obtained. As a result, as shown in FIG. 1C, it is possible to fabricate the waist Cxe2x80x2 of the directional coupler formed by the fusion of two optical fiber tapers. The waist Cxe2x80x2 is the most slender part of the directional coupler, yet has a uniform thickness and generates the strongest directional coupling. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 1D, the fabrication of the directional coupler is completed by fixing the waist Cxe2x80x2 with a quartz glass tube 140 and epoxy 150 in order to protect the waist Cxe2x80x2 of the directional coupler. Typically, the two optical fibers are identical types, however, they can also be different from each other or one of them may be extended in advance in order to achieve the desired wavelength characteristics or mode-coupling ratio.
FIGS. 2A through 2E are diagrams for illustrating the conventional method of fabricating a general polished-type directional coupler. As shown in FIG. 2A, a quartz block 200 having the shape of a rectangular hexahedron is prepared. Then, as shown in FIG. 2B, a groove 202 having a certain depth suitable for the thickness of the jacket of the optical fiber is made to form a fixing support 200a. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 2C, epoxy is used to fix the optical fiber 210 in the groove 202. Then, as shown in FIG. 2D, the block face fixing the optical fiber is polished to grind the cladding of the optical fiber in order to form a polished-type optical fiber 210a, so that a small part of the light propagating through the core of the optical fiber leaks. Then, as shown in FIG. 2E, the two blocks 200a and 200axe2x80x2 fabricated as illustrated above are put in contact to join the cores of the two optical fibers 210a and 210axe2x80x2, so that the directional coupler is completed. Such polished-type directional couplers are used in cases where the inherent birefringence (double refraction) axis present in the optical fiber core has to be adjusted. Examples of such cases include polarized directional couplers utilizing polarized optical fibers and mode-selective directional couplers utilizing an elliptical core two mode fiber (xe2x80x9cTMFxe2x80x9d). Such polished-type directional couplers are also used in variable directional couplers of which the coupling ratio is variable. However, polished-type directional couplers have a disadvantage that they are unstable against change of temperature or environment compared with all-fiber type directional couplers such as fused-type directional couplers, because polished-type directional couplers require use of index matching oil on the junction face in order to obtain effective directional coupling.
FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams for illustrating the functions of mode-selective directional couplers. The directional couplers shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B have common general functions irrespective of the technique (fused-type or polished-type) used to fabricate them. The basic structure is such that a TMF 300 and a single mode fiber (xe2x80x9cSMFxe2x80x9d) 301 are joined at the coupling region 302.
The normalized frequency is a characteristic value of an optical fiber. The normalized frequency V of an optical fiber can be calculated as follows:
V=(2xcfx80/xcex)xc2x7xcex1xc2x7(nco2xe2x88x92ncl2)1/2xe2x80x83xe2x80x83Equation 1, 
where xcex1 is the radius of the core, xcex is the wavelength, and nco and ncl are the refractive indices of the core and the cladding, respectively.
Generally, the larger the normalized frequency V of an optical fiber is, the more modes can propagate through the optical fiber. When the normalized frequency V is between 0 and 2.405, the optical fiber becomes a SMF through which only the LP01 mode can propagate. When the normalized frequency V is between 2.405 and 3.83, the optical fiber becomes a TMF through which both the LP01 mode and the LP11 mode can propagate. When the normalized frequency V is less than about 1.4, the guidance of the fiber core becomes too weak and the electric field of the LP01 mode begins to spread out to the cladding region. In such case, if the cladding comes into contact with other material, leakage or mode coupling of light occurs. Considering the above characteristics, the normalized frequency V is typically adjusted to 0.8 for fused-type directional couplers fabricated utilizing general SMF.
Referring to FIG. 3A illustrating mode selection, when both the LP01 and LP11 modes 303 propagate through the TMF 300, the LP01 mode propagates through the coupling region 302 to be output as the LP01 mode 304 of the output terminal TMF, whereas the LP11 mode of the TMF 300 is converted to the LP01 mode 305 of the SMF 301. Also, as shown in FIG. 3B, when the LP01 mode 306 is incident to the SMF 301, it is converted to the LP11 mode 307 of the TMF in the coupling region 302.
It is preferable to have 100% efficiency in mode selection or mode conversion. The mode coupling ratio and the mode extinction ratio are two criteria from which the quality of a mode-selective directional coupler can be judged. Referring to FIG. 3B, the mode coupling ratio and the mode extinction ratio can be calculated as follows:
Mode Coupling Ratio=100xc3x97(P1/P0)xe2x80x83xe2x80x83Equation 2, 
Mode Extinction Ratio=10xc2x7log(P1/P2)xe2x80x83xe2x80x83Equation 3, 
where P0 is the power of the LP01 mode 306 incident to the SMF 301, P1 is the mode-coupled power of the LP11 mode 307 in the output terminal TMF after propagating through the coupling region 302, and P2 is the mode-coupled power of the LP01 mode in the output terminal TMF. The mode coupling ratio and the mode extinction ratio are typically 90% and 20 dB, respectively, and larger values are preferable in both cases.
FIG. 4A is a diagram for illustrating the conventional method of fabricating a polished-type mode-selective directional coupler. Referring to FIG. 4A, the SMF and the TMF are fabricated as polished blocks 400 and 401 as in general polished-type directional couplers. Then, the two blocks xc2x1400 and 401 are juxtaposed by using index matching oil and epoxy on the face 402 of their junction. Mode-selective directional couplers fabricated according to such method require the use of a pair of SMF and TMF that satisfy the phase match condition, i.e., the condition that the propagation constants for the two modes are equal so that mode coupling is effectively brought about between the LP11 mode of the TMF and the LP01 mode of the SMF. In addition, the elliptical core TMF is preferable for practical use, because the lobe of the LP11 mode in a circular core TMF is unstable.
FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view of a mode-selective directional coupler fabricated according to the method illustrated in FIG. 4A. As shown in FIG. 4A, the direction of the junction of the elliptic core 403 of the TMF and the core 404 of the SMF should be aligned along the longer or shorter axis 405 of the elliptic core of the TMF.
The propagation constant xcex2 of a mode is in a linear relation with the effective refractive index neff of the mode and can be calculated as follows:
xcex2=(2xcfx80/xcex)xc2x7neffxe2x80x83xe2x80x83Equation 4, 
wherein xcex is the wavelength. Thus, the phase match condition is satisfied when the effective refractive indices of the two modes are the same value.
Thus, it is necessary to find a pair of TMF and SMF in which the effective refractive index of the TMF LP11 mode and that of the SMF LP01 mode are the same, in order to fabricate a polished-type mode-selective directional coupler. Also, the performance of such polished-type mode-selective directional couplers is prone to be affected by change of exterior environment such as temperature, because material such as index matching oil and epoxy is used in such polished-type mode-selective directional couplers.
In TMF, two modes, LP01 mode and LP11 mode, can propagate. If one end of the TMF is tapered, both the core of the optical fiber and the diameter of the cladding are reduced at the same rate. When the electrical field is calculated with respect to a TMF having a stepped refractive index distribution capable of tapering by using a Maxwell equation, it is possible to numerically calculate the mode distribution that propagates through the TMF and the effective refractive index. FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating the effective refractive indexes of the LP01 mode and the LP11 mode according to the diameter of the TMF taper calculated by using such method in a typical circular core TMF. Reference numerals 500 and 501 refer to the effective refractive indexes of the LP01 mode and the LP11 mode, respectively, and the dotted line referred to by reference numeral 510 indicates the refractive index of the TMF cladding.
A cladding mode is a mode having an effective refractive index that is smaller than the refractive index of the cladding. Thus, the cladding mode cannot propagate through ordinary optical fibers covered by a jacket but can propagate through regions such as the waist of directional couplers where the jacket is uncovered and comprised of cladding and air. The LP02 mode is the lowest order mode among the cladding modes of the TMF. On the contrary, the core mode is a mode having an effective refractive index that is greater than the refractive index of the cladding. Thus, the core mode can propagate through ordinary optical fibers.
The solid line referred to by reference numeral 512 indicates the effective refractive index curve of the LP02 mode, the lowest-order mode among cladding modes, wherein the effective refractive index is smaller than the refractive index of the cladding. Referring to FIG. 5, the effective refractive indices of the two modes in the TMF become smaller as the diameter of the taper becomes smaller by tapering. Finally, when the effective refractive index of the LP11 mode becomes equal to the refractive index 510 of the cladding as indicated by reference numeral 511, then the LP11 mode cannot propagate through the optical fiber that has a jacket. The normalized frequency V at this point is 2.405. Thus, as in a SMF, only the LP01 mode can propagate through the TMF taper having a smaller diameter than such point.
After preparing two TMF""s of equal diameter 502, one of them can be tapered to an appropriate diameter 504. When this TMF taper is joined with the other TMF and both of them are extended while being heated, the diameters of the two optical fibers are reduced at the same rate. The effective refractive index 505 of the LP01 mode in the TMF taper and the effective refractive index 503 of the LP11 mode in the other TMF are also reduced as the diameters are reduced. When the diameters of the TMF taper and the other TMF are reduced at the same rate to certain diameter values 508 and 506, the effective refractive index 509 of the LP01 mode in the TMF taper becomes equal to the effective refractive index 507 of the LP11 mode in the other TMF. This condition is referred to as the phase matching condition. Accordingly, it is possible to fabricate a fused-type mode-selective directional coupler by fusing a TMF taper and an ordinary TMF and extending them so that the final diameters satisfy the phase matching condition as illustrated above. However, the final diameters of the TMF taper and the other TMF that satisfy the phase matching condition between the LP01 mode of the TMF taper and the LP11 mode of the other TMF depends on the initial value of the diameter of the TMF taper.
The differences in the characteristics of the fused-type mode-selective directional coupler according to the initial values of the diameters of the TMF taper and the other TMF will be illustrated hereinafter by describing the prior art.
Fused-type mode-selective directional couplers have been researched in the past by using a TMF taper and an ordinary TMF. FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating the phase matching condition curve when a fused-type mode-selective directional coupler is fabricated using a step index TMF and its taper. That is, FIG. 6 is a graph showing the respective diameter values of the TMF and the TMF taper when the phase matching condition occurs between the LP01 mode and the LP11 mode in FIG. 5. In FIG. 6, the curve 601 indicated by a solid line represents the theoretical value of the diameters of the TMF and the TMF taper that satisfy the phase matching condition between the LP11 mode of the TMF and the LP01 mode of the TMF taper. In addition, the curve 602 indicated by a dotted line represents the theoretical value of the diameter of the optical fiber that satisfies the phase matching condition between the LP02 mode of the TMF and the LP01 mode of the TMF taper. Because the light mode-coupled to the LP02 mode disappears when it reaches the jacket, mode-coupling to the LP02 mode is a main factor to loss of light in a fused-type mode-selective directional coupler.
Once the initial diameter 608 of the TMF and the TMF taper is determined, the diameters of the two optical fibers are reduced like a straight line (xe2x80x9ccoupler fabrication straight linexe2x80x9d) 607 toward the origin. It is preferable for the coupler fabrication straight line and the curve satisfying the phase matching condition to be parallel and close within an error of around 1.5 xcexcm of the TMF diameter (within effective refractive index order of 10xe2x88x924) in order to obtain effective mode coupling. However, when the coupler is fabricated by using a TMF and its taper, the straight line and the curve differ beyond the error limit in the mode coupling regions 603-604 and 605-606.
The mode coupling region is a region in which the normalized frequency V of the TMF is between 1.4 and 2.405. In the mode coupling region, the effective refractive index of the TMF LP11 mode is smaller than the refractive index of the cladding, and the effective refractive index of TMF LP01 mode has not reached the index of cladding yet. Thus, mode coupling between the TMF LP11 mode and the LP01 mode in the TMF taper is carried out effectively. At the same time, the TMF LP01 mode does not participate in any coupling of light so that a large mode extinction ratio can be achieved. Accordingly, it is preferable to fabricate the fused-type mode-selective directional coupler in the mode coupling region.
As shown in FIG. 6, the LP01-LP02 mode curve 602 is very close to the LP01-LP11 mode curve 601 in the mode coupling regions 603-604 and 605-606. Thus, when the fused-type mode-selective directional coupler is fabricated by using the TMF and its taper, mode coupling to the LP02 mode occurs along with mode coupling to the LP11. Accordingly, a significant amount of loss of light occurs, which is not desirable.
Conventional polished-type mode-selective directional couplers have a disadvantage that their performance is deteriorated with change in temperature, because other material such as index matching oil and epoxy is used. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of fabricating a fused-type mode-selective directional coupler in all-optical-fiber form that is stable against change in temperature because no material other than optical fiber is used but still has characteristics comparable to conventional polished-type mode-selective directional couplers.
Because it was impossible to change the characteristics of optical fibers in conventional methods of fabricating a polished-type mode-selective directional coupler, it was necessary to find out the characteristics of each of the optical fibers empirically in order to find a pair of optical fibers of which the effective refractive index of the TMF LP11 mode is equal to the effective refractive index of the SMF LP01 mode. Thus, it is another object of the present invention to provide a method of fabricating a mode-selective directional coupler that enables easy selection of a pair of optical fibers for the directional coupler.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method of fabricating a fused-type mode-selective directional coupler that is smaller and lighter than conventional polished-type directional couplers but is cheaper and takes less time to fabricate while still having almost the same characteristics as conventional polished-type directional couplers.
To this end, a method of fabricating a fused-type mode-selective directional coupler in which a mode-coupling ratio between a first mode M1 and a second mode M2 equals a certain value is provided, the method comprising the steps of preparing a first optical fiber and a second optical fiber, the first and second optical fibers each having a core and a cladding, parts of a jacket of each of the first and second optical fibers being removed, the first optical fiber having a cladding diameter of D1 and a normalized frequency of V1, and the second optical fiber having a cladding diameter of D2 and a normalized frequency of V2, said V1 being less than said V2; putting in contact the claddings of the first and second optical fibers to form a junction; measuring the mode-coupling ratio between the first mode M1 of the first optical fiber and the second mode M2 of the second optical fiber; extending the first and second optical fibers in longitudinal directions while fusing the junction; and stopping extending the first and second optical fibers when the mode-coupling ratio between the first mode M1 and the second mode M2 reaches the certain value.
It is preferable that the step of preparing a first optical fiber and a second optical fiber comprises tapering the first optical fiber to a cladding diameter of D1 and etching the second optical fiber to a cladding diameter of D2. The step of preparing a first optical fiber and a second optical fiber may also comprise tapering and etching the first and second optical fibers, respectively, the first and second optical fibers having an identical structure, wherein the first and second optical fibers having the identical structure are either single-mode optical fibers or two-mode optical fibers.
The first mode M1 may be an LP01 mode and the second mode M2 may be an LP11 mode. Also, the first mode M1 may be a core mode and the second mode M2 may be a cladding mode.
The certain value at which extending of the first and second optical fibers is stopped may be a maximum value of the mode-coupling ratio between the first mode M1 and the second mode M2.
The first and second optical fibers may be two-mode optical fibers having elliptic cores, and arrangement planes of the first and second optical fibers may be parallel with the elliptic cores at the junction such that mode-coupling occurs in a stable manner only in one lobe direction of an LP11 mode.
In addition, the first and second optical fibers may be elliptic-core optical fibers, and modes participating in mode-coupling are fundamental mode of either one of the first and second optical fibers and anti-symmetric higher-order mode such as an LP12 mode of the other one of the first and second optical fibers. In addition, the first and second optical fibers may be circular core optical fibers, and modes participating in mode-coupling are fundamental mode of either one of the first and second optical fibers and symmetric higher-order mode such as an LP02 mode of the other one of the first and second optical fibers.